Water-gage attachment.



No. 796,959. Patented Aug. l2, |992.

F. J. Knox.

WATER GAGE ATTACHMENT. (Application tiled Jan. 7, 1902.) (No Model.)

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UNITED STATES 'PATENT OFFICE;

FANKJ. KNOX, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

`wines-Gmac ATTACHMENT.

y SPECIFICATION renting pei-t ef Letters Patent No. 706,959, datedAugust 12, 1902. i Application tiled January 7, 1902. Serial No. 88,727.(No model.)

This invention relates -to aidevice that isy designed to be applied to awater-gage to facilitate observation. The device is particularlyintended forattachment to a water-gage that is illuminated by anartificial light placed behind the glass, as is the water-gage of' acommon steam-automobile. A

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, light, and cheapattachmentthat can be readily applied to any common water-gage so as toscreen the direct rays from the iiame of the artificial illuminantbehind the glass from the eyes of the observer and so direct the raysthat/the glass willappearasolid color if full of water, or will appearvery bright with a fine contrasting longitudinal stripe if empty, or ifpartly full will appear to have a solid color up to the level of thewater and bright with a fine colored stripe above the water.

The embodiments of the invention illustrated by the accompanyingdrawings have a translucent screen extending vertically between theglass and the light, with a practically opaque stripe directly behindand parallel with the center of the glass, and means that direct therays of light upon the glass and screen all rays from the eyes of theobserver except those that are thrown upon the glass or pass through theglass.

Figure l of the drawings shows a perspective view of one of the devicesattached to a water-gage. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, Fig. 3 is acentral vertical section, and Fig. 4 is a transverse sectionof the same.Fig. 5 is a transverse section of a modified form of the invention, andFig. 6 is a transverse section of another modification.

The transparent water-glass l is held, as

usual, in the stuffing-boxes 2 of the upper and lower gage-arms 3, whichare connected with the boiler in a common manner. The dotted lines 4eindicate the lens of the lamp, which provides the illumination back oftho glass.

open space between them at 'the front.

A translucent screen 5, preferably a piece of ground glass with anopaque or practically opaque stripe 6 of any striking colorin or on theglass, is held by clamps 7 between the glass and the light, with thestripe parallel with the axis of the glass. `These clamps eX- tendaround portions of the upper and lower gage-arms and support thereflector 8. Rubber or other packings 9 are placed inside of the clampsin order to cushion the device, and the clamps are drawn together so asto hold the parts in position-by screws 10. reliector is formed of acurved piece of metal with a centralslot 1l, which is substantially thewidth of the diameter of the glass. The inside of this reflector ispreferably polished, plated, or coated with some light-reliectingsubstance, so as to reflect the rays of light back upon the glass andscreen. As shown in Fig. 5, the reiiector instead of being a curvedpiece of metal may be formed of two flat plates ot' glass 12 or othermaterial arranged at an angle with each other, with an This reliectorhides the rays of light from. the lamp from the eyes of the observer,except those which are thrown back upon the glass or pass through andareseen through the opening at the front. If desired, the translucentscreen 13 back of the glass may be formed with an angular or curvedfront surface, as shown in Fig. 5. The rays of light which pass throughthe screen at the back and which are thrown back onto the glassbythereflector in front bring the glass into strong relief, and thecolored stripe on the screen so acts with the rays of light that if theglass Iis full of waterit will appear, looking fromJthe front throughthe opening in the reflector, as a solid body having the color of thestripe. If the glass is empty, the reection and refraction." are suchthat the glass appears bright and glowing eX- cept for a narrow coloredstripe, and if the glass is partially filled with water the portion thatcontains water appears as a solid body` having the color of the stripe,while the por- 'tion that is empty appears bright with anar- The IOO

' and the empty portion to exhibit onlya stripe and many ybyanundersnpply of water while .ticularly applicable Vto the water-gage of amine whether the glass is full, partially full', or is empty of water. tY

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 6 the same eiiect is produced byemploying the prisms 14, 'whichare so cut and arranged that rays oflight entering from behind will be thrown at right angles to theiroriginal direction upon the glass 15. The translucent screen 16, that-isbetween these prisms, is provided with a stripe of'color, which causesthe filled portion of the tube to appear asolid of color; p "A deviceembodying this invention is parbeing used at night on account of thefailure to readily distinguish the level of the water in the glass.

I claim as my invention- I 1. An attachment having means for clampl ingto a -water-gage and a reector having a narrow central opening in frontof the gageglass and arranged 'to throw light backward' toward theAgage-glass, substantially as speciied.

' 2. An attachment having means for clamping to a water-gage, a screenwith anopaque stripe parallel ywith and back :of the gageglass, and areector extending on each side ofthe glass and having refiecting-wallsthat converge toward a narrow opening in f-ront of the glass andarranged to throwlight backward toward the front of the glass,substantially as specified.

3. An attachment having means for clamping to awater-gage, an opaquestripe parallel with and back of the gage-glass and a re- `flectorextending each side of the glass andhaving reiecting-walls that convergetoward a narrow opening in front of the glass and arranged to throwlight backward toward the front of the glass, substantially asspecified.

l4. A'n attachment havingmeans for clamping to a water-gage, atranslucent screen with anopaqne stripe back of and parallel with thegage-glass, and an opaque refiector with av c'entral opening in front ofthe glass, sub-V stantially as specified. ,l

t FRANK J. KNOX.

Witnesses: l

H. R. WILLIAMS,

V. R. HoLooMB.

